Tag: Century of Books

A Century of Books: How Am I Doing? January Report

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In January, I foolishly decided to join Simon Thomas’s Century of Book Challenge, even though I knew that reading 100 books, one for each year in a century, from 1925-2024, would be tough because last year I only read 169. So, how am I doing? I was trying to finish by the end of December, but I clearly didn’t make it.

Here are the holes in my project with the books listed for this month below. If you want to see the details, see my Century of Books page.

  • 1925-1934: complete!
  • 1935-1944: complete!
  • 1945-1954: entry needed for 1948
  • 1955-1964: entries needed for 1955 and 1960
  • 1965-1974: complete!
  • 1975-1984: entry needed for 1981
  • 1985-1994: entries needed for 1990, 1991, and 1993
  • 1995–2004: entries needed for 1995, 1997, 2001, 2002, and 2003
  • 2005-2014: entries needed for 2005, 2006, and 2007
  • 2015-2024: complete!

I had a little confusion this month with the year 1980. I finished The Name of the Rose only to find that the year was already occupied by Tropical Issue, a renamed book by Dorothy Dunnett. However, I looked that book up again, and it actually belonged in 1983. So, I filled two slots at once.

Since December 25, I read the following books. The ones for this project are listed in bold. As you can see, I concentrated this month on books for this project. I completed books for two more decades:

  • How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn for 1939
  • The Feast by Margaret Kennedy for 1950
  • Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (from 1811, too early to count)
  • The Temptations of Big Bear for 1973
  • A Bend in the River by V. S. Naipaul for 1979
  • The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco for 1980
  • The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende for 1982
  • Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones for 1986
  • The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri for 1994
  • Malice by Keigo Higashino for 1996
  • Island by Alastair MacLeod for 2000

As of today, it looks like I have 15 books left to read for this project, although it will take a bit longer for me to post all the reviews.

A Century of Books: How Am I Doing? August Report

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In January, I foolishly decided to join Simon Thomas’s Century of Book Challenge, even though I knew that reading 100 books, one for each year in a century, from 1925-2024, would be tough because last year I only read 169. So, how am I doing?

Here are the holes in my project with the books listed for this month below. If you want to see the details, see my Century of Books page.

I read a lot fewer books in August than usual because first, I was traveling, and second, I got sick.

  • 1925-1934: entries needed for 1928, 1929, and 1931
  • 1935-1944: entries needed for 1939 and 1944
  • 1945-1954: entries needed for 1945, 1948, 1949, and 1950
  • 1955-1964: entries needed for all years except 1956, 1958, 1959, and 1962
  • 1965-1974: entries needed for 1967, 1969, 1971, and 1973
  • 1975-1984: entries needed for all years except 1975, 1976, and 1978
  • 1985-1994: entries needed for all years except 1987, 1992, and 1988
  • 1995–2004: entries needed for all years except 1998, 1999, and 2004
  • 2005-2014: entries needed for all years except 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014
  • 2015-2024: complete!

Since July 31, I have read the following books:

  • The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky from 1866 (too early to count for this project)
  • Envy by Yuri Olesha from 1927
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston from 1937
  • A Chelsea Concerto by Frances Faviell from 1959
  • The Book of Lamentations by Rosario Castellanos from 1962
  • Broken by Karin Slaughter from 2010
  • The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves from 2023
  • The Witching Tide by Margaret Meyer from 2023
  • The Bee Sting by Paul Murray from 2023
  • The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng from 2023

A Century of Books: How Am I Doing? April Report

~ whatmeread ~ 6 Comments

In January, I foolishly decided to join Simon Thomas’s Century of Book Challenge, even though I knew that reading 100 books, one for each year in a century, from 1925-2024, would be tough because last year I only read 169. So, how am I doing?

Here are the holes in my project with the books listed for April below. If you want to see the details, see my Century of Books page.

  • 1925-1934: entries needed for 1926-31
  • 1935-1944: entries needed for all years except 1935, 1936, 1937, 1941, and 1943
  • 1945-1954: entries needed for all years except 1947, 1952, 1953, and 1954
  • 1955-1964: entries needed for all years except 1958 and 1959
  • 1965-1974: entries needed for all years except 1965, 1966, 1972, and 1974
  • 1975-1984: entries needed for all years except 1975 and 1976
  • 1985-1994: entries needed for all years
  • 1995–2004: entries needed for all years except 2004
  • 2005-2014: entries needed for all years except 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014
  • 2015-2024: complete!

Read since March 27th:

Unfortunately, not qualifying for the project, The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy from 1878

Qualifying:

  • Illyrian Spring by Ann Bridge from 1935
  • An Infamous Army by Georgette Heyer from 1937
  • Beginning with a Bash by Alice Tilton from 1937
  • Forest Silver by E. M. Ward from 1941
  • Family Ties by Celia Buckmaster from 1952
  • A Stranger Came Ashore by Mollie Hunter from 1975
  • Real Life by Brandon Taylor from 2020
  • The Immortal King Rao by Vauhini Vara from 2022
  • The Other Side of Mrs. Wood by Lucy Barker from 2023
  • Prophet Song by Paul Lynch from 2023
  • The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd Robinson from 2023
  • The Guest Room by Tasha Sylva from 2023

A Century of Books: How Am I Doing? March Report

~ whatmeread ~ 10 Comments

In January, I foolishly decided to join Simon Thomas’s Century of Book Challenge, even though I knew that reading 100 books, one for each year in a century, from 1925-2024, would be tough because last year I only read 169. So, how am I doing?

I decided this accounting would make more sense if I listed the holes, so here goes. If you want to see the details, see my Century of Books page.

  • 1925-1934: entries needed for 1926-31
  • 1935-1944: entries needed for all years except 1936, 1937, 1941, and 1943
  • 1945-1954: entries needed for all years except 1947, 1953, and 1954
  • 1955-1964: entries needed for all years except 1958 and 1959
  • 1965-1974: entries needed for all years except 1965, 1966, 1972, and 1974
  • 1975-1984: entries needed for all years except 1976
  • 1985-1994: entries needed for all years
  • 1995–2004: entries needed for all years except 2004
  • 2005-2014: entries needed for all years except 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014
  • 2015-2024: complete!

Read since February 28th:

  • The Circular Stairway by Mary Roberts Rinehart (unfortunately, it doesn’t fit in this project because it’s from 1908)
  • Firebird by Zuzanna Ginczanka from 1936 and 2023
  • Beginning with a Bash by Alice Tilton from 1937
  • Mrs. Martell by Elizabeth Eliot from 1953
  • Impact of Evidence by Carol Carnac from 1954
  • Silence by Shūsaku Endō from 1966
  • My Death by Lisa Tuttle from 2004
  • An English Ghost Story by Kim Newman from 2014
  • The Green Road by Anne Enright from 2015
  • The Memory of Animals by Claire Fuller from 2023
  • The Quiet Tenant by Clémence Michallon from 2023
  • The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters from 2023
  • The Hunter by Tara French from 2024
  • Murder Road by Simone St. James from 2024

A Century of Books: How Am I Doing? February Report

~ whatmeread ~ 5 Comments

In January, I foolishly decided to join Simon Thomas’s Century of Book Challenge, even though I knew that reading 100 books, one for each year in a century, from 1925-2024, would be tough because last year I only read 169. So, how am I doing?

I decided that the method I chose last month to keep track was meaningless to anyone but me, so it makes more sense if I list the years for which I don’t yet have entries. If you want to see the details, see my Century of Books page.

  • 1925-1934: entries needed for 1926-31
  • 1935-1944: entries needed for all years except 1941 and 1943
  • 1945-1954: entries needed for all years except 1947
  • 1955-1964: entries needed for all years except 1958 and 1959
  • 1965-1974: entries needed for all years except 1965, 1972, and 1974
  • 1975-1984: entries needed for all years except 1976
  • 1985-1994: entries needed for all years
  • 1995–2004: entries needed for all years
  • 2005-2014: entries needed for all years except 2009, 2010, and 2012
  • 2015-2024: entries needed for 2015 and 2024

Read in February (up to today):

  • Fear Stalks the Village by Ethel Lina White from 1932
  • The Warrielaw Jewel by Winifred Peck from 1933
  • Wonder Cruise by Ursula Bloom from 1934
  • Tom Tiddler’s Ground by Ursula Orange from 1941
  • Weatherley Parade by Richmal Crompton from 1943
  • Skeletons in the Closet by Jean-Patrick Manchette from 1976
  • Murder at the Residence by Stella Blómkvist from 2012
  • Mrs, March by Virginia Feito from 2021
  • Chenneville by Paulette Jiles, The Bookbinder by Pip Williams, and Somebody’s Fool by Richard Russo from 2023

A Century of Books: How Am I Doing? January Report

~ whatmeread ~ 6 Comments

In January, I foolishly decided to join Simon Thomas’s Century of Book Challenge, even though I knew that reading 100 books, one for each year in a century, from 1925-2024, would be tough because last year I only read 169. So, how am I doing?

Well, unlike Simon, who seems to have a huge library of unread books from just about every decade, I have just been reading through my pile, and my worst fears are being justified. Just in the first weeks, I read seven books written in 2023! I had to decide whether, on my page for keeping track, I would list just one book per year or go ahead and list every book I read for that year, and I decided to do the latter, because the former was just too frustrating. I also had to decide, because my first few book reviews for the year were for ones I read in 2023, whether to list those. I decided to do that even though it might seem like cheating, because it’s unlikely that I am going to meet this challenge at the rate I am going. And in any case, by the end of the year, I won’t have posted reviews of the books I read towards the end of the year yet.

I will summarize my progress so far by decade. If you want to see the details, see my Century of Books page.

  • 1925-1934: 4 books (however, 3 of them are for 1934—I don’t know how I did that)
  • 1935-1944: 1 book
  • 1945-1954: 1 book
  • 1955-1964: 2 books
  • 1965-1974: 2 books
  • 1975-1984: 1 book
  • 1985-1994: 0 books
  • 1995–2004: 0 books
  • 2005-2014: 2 books
  • 2015-2024: 16 books, but 7 of them are from 2023

So, although Simon said the first half of the year you could just plug in the years and later begin to purposefully look for books for the years you don’t have, I may have to come up with a plan that is more specific sooner, because random reading doesn’t seem to be working well for me.

I’ll post this report each month, so you can see how I’m doing.

I Insanely Decide to Join the Century of Books Challenge

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Last Wednesday, Simon Thomas put up a Century of Books challenge, in which he selects 100 years and attempts to read a book published in each of those years. This time, he selected 1925-2024. I have insanely decided to join him, even though this challenge may determine 2/3 of my reading for the year.

As if I’m not doing enough challenges. We’ll see how I do! I’ll post a link under my Projects tab so you can watch my progress.